Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/23

Outputs
Target Audience:The AgrAbility Virginia project (AgVA) is a partnership between Virginia Tech (VT), Virginia State University (VSU), Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE), Easterseals UCP (ES), and several public and private agencies inVirginia. We have accumulated an enviable record for serving farmers and farm family members with disabilities in Virginia. This project supported farmers in the changing face of agriculture in Virginia. The partnership was dedicated to providing the best support possible to Virginia farmers with disabilities and illnesses. Historically, the project focus has been on modifying farm and ranch operations, adapting assistive technologies as needed, improving farmstead accessibility, providing financial counseling, identifying funding sources, coordinating community services, developing, and delivering educational materials and programs on the prevention of secondary and primary farm injuries. In addition to supporting our farmer clients during this final reporting period, we have published three resources through Virginia Cooperative Extension aimed at small scale farmers, gardeners, and service providers, and another two that were republished with significant updates and additional content. We are working onthree additional resources in partnership with health sciences graduate students from Mary Baldwin University Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences (MDCHS) and the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS). We have continued to conduct outreach to agricultural service providers who serve our target audience as well as to students, community members, and to our audience of farmers and gardeners across the state. We have conducted outreach by tabling and presenting in thirty-one venues, virtually and in person, with two more events in August. We have also produced a quarterly newsletter published in October,November, and December 2022, and February and July 2023. The next newsletter will publish in December 2023 with our new funding. Changes/Problems: We had onepersonnel changein Y4: The AgVA Coordinator, GarlandMason, left AgVA at the end of May 2023.We brought on Roberto Franco as a part time,interimcoordiantor for the remainder of the grant funded timeline.We are currently in the search phase for a new AgVa coordinator and aim to have that person in place fall 2023 with the start or our new round of funding. In Y4, wewelcomed two new members to our Advisory Group, Ms. Karen Mann, a farmer, and Gayl Brunk from the Center for Independent Living in Harrisonburg, VA. Over the 4 years,we made excellentprogress on our objectives. Although the COVID-19 pandemic had impacted our project's activities and timeline, our work continued and our aims were reached.Our VT-VSU-ES team is high functioning and very committed to the objectives of our work. We look foward to continuing our efforts in 2023-2027. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In addition to our own staff's professional development during this reporting period, we have provided significant opportunities for training and professional development for agricultural service providers and farmers. These activities have included presentationsat seven conferences including the National Conference on Next Generation Sustainable Technologies for Small-Scale Producers at NC A&T State University, the Wise County Agricultural Education Day, the Virginia Ag Education Conference, the Agricultural Extension In-Service Conference, the Virginia Arthritis & Falls Prevention Coalition (Virtual), the Community Health Workers - Institute of Public Health Innovation (Virtual), and the VCE Base Camp Agritourism Conference.Additionally, in Y4, we continue maintaining and growing the AgrAbility Virginia Network (AVN), a listserv made up of program partners. The AVN serves to connect agricultural service providers with disability service providers in a more effective way than the Rural Rehab Partnership, which we hosted in previous years. The listserv is intended to enhance communication and provide opportunities for professional development among the group of stakeholders across the state who support, advise, and engage with theAgVA including those providing technical assistance, support services, education, and advocacy on issues of safety, health, wellness, and accessibility in agricultural communities. Staff training.Staff members participate in quarterly All Staff Meetings hosted by the National AgrAbility Project (NAP) (virtual). Staff also attended NAP's National Training Workshop in spring 2023 in Spokane, WA. The program coordinator also attended the Virginia Farm Transition Workshop held in February 2023, which provided professional development related to farm transfer. Staff also attended the 2022 Rural Health Voice Conference in Williamsburg, VA. Publications.We have produced five publications through Virginia Cooperative Extension. These publications include 1.Mason, G., Niewolny, K. (2023). AgrAbility Virginia Program Evaluation Brief: 2023 Survey & Interview Results (VCE Publication No. ALCE-318NP). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved fromhttps://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/ALCE/alce-318/ALCE-318.pdf2.Smilnak, D., Mason, G., Franco, R., Niewolny, K., Leonessa, A. (2023). What is an Agricultural Exoskeleton? (VCE Publication No. ALCE-303NP). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved fromhttps://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/ALCE/alce-303/ALCE-303.pdf3.Smilnak, D., Mason, G., Franco, R., Niewolny, K., Leonessa, A. (2023). The Role of Farmer Input in the Design of Assistive Technologies: A Focus on Agricultural Exoskeletons (VCE Publication No. ALCE-304NP). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved fromhttps://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/ALCE/alce-304/ALCE-304.pdf4.Kyle, C., Niewolny, K., Ballin, K., Young, J., Robertson, T., Ohanehi, D. (2022). AgrAbility Virginia Program Evaluation Brief: 2016 Survey Results (VCE Publication No. ALCE-170NP). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved fromhttps://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/pubs_ext_vt_edu/en/ALCE/ALCE-170/ALCE-170.html5.Kyle, C., Niewolny, K., Ohanehi, D., Ballin, K., Young, J., Bridge, S., Robertson, T., Mason, G. (2022). AgrAbility Virginia's Mixed-Method Program Evaluation Approach and Considerations (VCE Publication No. ALCE-171NP). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved fromhttps://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/ALCE/alce-171/ALCE-171NP.pdf Partnership growth in Y3-Y4:Virginia Tech (PI, Niewolny) received a $25,000 grant through the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) for AgrAbility Virginia to offer regional farm stress, health, and wellness programming for farmers and professional development for educators as part of the regional Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network, and Virginia Farm Stress Network, which served as an extension of our AgrAbility Virginia plan of work to offer community-based farm stress education and interventions in Virginia and Central Appalachian region. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have disseminated our results to communities of interest through presentations, the AgVAwebsite,outreach at in-person and virtual conferences and other events, AgVAsocial media,and our AgVA newsletter. Presentations.We presented and conducted outreachpresentationsat seven conferences including the National Conference on Next Generation Sustainable Technologies for Small-Scale Producers at NC A&T State University, the Wise County Agricultural Education Day, the Virginia Ag Education Conference, the Agricultural Extension In-Service Conference, the Virginia Arthritis & Falls Prevention Coalition (Virtual), the Community Health Workers - Institute of Public Health Innovation (Virtual), and the VCE Base Camp Agritourism Conference.We also gave three informal presentations about AgrAbility for a VT class, the Virginia Summer Residential Governor's School for Agriculture at Virginia Tech, and Northern VCE. Program Evalution: we used a utilization-focused summative-mixed methods evaluation to quantify and qualify any changes in quality of life, hopefulness, farm safety, and other factors that have taken place as a result of a farmer's participation in AgrAbility Virginia programming. We surveyed farmers and service providers as well as interviewed farmers.The findings have been published through Virginia Coopertive Extension in spring 2023. Website & Online Resources.We have updated our web presence. Activities related to this have included maintaining our website by continuallyadding newly created resources and updating our Facebook page, Instagram account, and Twitter account with regular news blasts.We shared farmer highlights through all of these venues including photos and videos describing the farmers, their illness, injury, or disability, their work with AgrAbility and other partners like DARS, and the outcomes of the service provided. Outreach.We tabled and conducted outreach at twenty-one in-person events, with one more scheduled for August:twenty-one in-person events, with one scheduledforAugust: 1) Feeling Good on the Farm and in the Garden in Roanoke, GA. 2) Brunswick County Disable Farmers Workshop in Brunswick, VA. 3) The Veterans' Disability Awareness Event in Richmond, VA. 4) Virginia Farm Transition Workshop in Weyers Cave and Wytheville, VA. 5) VCE Winter Conference, Blacksburg, VA. 6) Virginia Forage and Grassland Council Winter Forage Conference in Weyers Cave and Blackstone, VA. 7) 2022 Rural Health Voice Conference, Williamsburg, VA. 8) National AgrAbility Project Training Workshop, Spokane, WA. 9) Appalachian Independence Center Raised Garden Beds Training for the Appalachian Sustainable Development in Abingdon, VA. 10) VSU Field Day in Petersburg, VA. 11) Veterans Affairs Career Fair, VA. 12) VSU Small Farm Conference, Petersburg, VA. 13) Nurse Practitioners Group, Lynchburg, VA. 14) Virginia Farm Bureau Federation's 2022 Annual Convention in White Sulphur Springs, WV. 15) Virginia Dairy Expo, Dayton, VA. 16) Virginia Rural Health Voice Conference, Williamsburg, VA. 17) VABF 23rd Annual Virginia Biological Farming Conference, Roanoke, VA. 18) Virginia Farm Show, Fishersville, VA. 19) Mount Rogers CSB Event, Wytheville, VA. 20) Virginia State Beekeepers Association, VA. 21) Farming & Assistive Technology Workshop, Elloree, SC. 22) Boots to Roots 3: Carving Out Opportunities, Culpepper, VA (anticipated August 2023). Social Media.From August 22nd, 2022, to July 23rd, 2023,our outreach coordinator has updated our Facebook and Instagram accounts with 60 new posts and stories. We had a total post reach of 3,235 on Facebook and 469 on Instagram. Our Facebook account has 362 likes, and our Instagram account has 452 followers. Our Twitter account has 6 new tweets since August 22ndand has 67 followers.Our tweets published between August 22ndand July 23rdwere seen a total of 331 times. Newsletter. AgVApublishes quarterly newsletters each year. In Y4, we published our newsletters in October, November, and December 2022, as well as in February 2023. The following newsletter will publish in August 2023. We have 119 newsletter subscribers, with 42% opening our February 2023 edition. Our newsletter forwards to various listservs, including VCE Agriculture and Natural Resource Agents. Past newsletters can be accessed here:https://agrability.alce.vt.edu/Newsletters.html Mobile Unit.During Y4, AgVA continued partnering with the VSU Small Farm Outreach Program to support the Virginia Agriculture Mobile Education Unit. The Mobile Unit is an interactive educational tool showcasing AgVA, Ag-related programs, and other elements of the Virginia agriculture industry. The Mobile Unit traveled in and out of state providing farming education to high schools, conferences, and other Ag-related events visiting 23 sites with over 4,450visitors. Access the Mobile Education Unit website here:https://www.ext.vsu.edu/mobile-ed-unit What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The overall aim of this statewide project is to assist farmers, and their families, to continue working safely and productively with dignity.We do this through education, direct service, networking, and marketing objectives. AgVa will accomplish these objectives with increased effectiveness to address at least four significant issues:1) Provide enhanced direct services for historically underserved and vulnerable farming communities with disability in Virginia through the 1862-1890 LGU partnership; 2) Provide targeted education and rehabilitation assistance in hard-to-reach settings through VSU's Mobile Agricultural Education and Demonstration Program; 3) Develop a community-based pilot program to address farm safety and farm-related stress as critical mental and behavioral health issues impacting farmers and farm families; 4) Develop new educational resources and outreach for affordable flexible robotic devices as an emergent assistive technology strategy for farmers with disabilities.AgVa comprises VT, VST, and ES--together--with foundational support of the Rural Rehabilitation Partnership and Advisory Group. The AgVa team is responsible for each of the objectives. What was accomplished under these goals? 1. Education Aim:We increased awareness among farmers with disabilities about disability accommodation interventions and assistive technologies with special attention to historically underserved (e.g., African American) and vulnerable farming groups (e.g., military and beginning farmers) with a focus on farm stress, health, and wellness. Examples of key outcomes and activities includeA. Conference Presentations/Professional Developmentat sevenevents.B. OtherPresentationswere offered about AgVA for Virginia Tech students (n=120),Virginia Summer Residential Governor's School for Agriculture at Virginia Tech (n=25), and"Sustaining a Healthy Mind is a Shepherding BMP" for Northern VCE, and Farm Dinner Theaters (5) focusing on farm stress with Virginia farmers (n=250) as a core element of our community-based farm stress program.C. PublicationsWe have created 3new Extension publications,updated 2others with new resources, and we are working on 3 additional publications, focusing on exoskelton AT, best pratices for OT professionals working with farmers with disabiliites, and program evaluation results.D. Virginia Agricultural Mobile Educational Unitis an interactive educational unitthat showcases AgVA along with other programs and elements of Virginia agriculture. In Y4, the mobile unithad visited over 23sites with over 4,450visitors, addressing our aim of reaching further people in hard to reach areas. 2. Direct Services Aim:We provided services to 32farmers in Y4. In Y4, we conducted nine site visits. Weprovided virtual services via Zoom, phone, and emailto an additional 9 farmers. These on-site meetings and virtual engagements were generally conducted in partnership with local specialists from VCE,the VSUSmall Farm Outreach Programin addition tocounselors, occupational therapists, and rehabilitation engineers from DARS or representatives from the Centers for Independent Living. We also submitted anonymized client data to NAP for demographics reporting annually. In Y4 we submitted data in June 2023. In Y4, we used a utilization-focused summative-mixed methods evaluation to quantify and qualify any changes in quality of life, hopefulness, farm safety, and other factors that have taken place as a result of a farmer's participation in AgrAbility Virginia programming.Since June 2023, we have started the process for direct services with 2 new clients. 3. Networking Aim:Our team fostered current and new networking relationships with stakeholders:A. AgrAbility Virginia Network (listserv)was established to expand our network and serves to connect agricultural service providers with disability service providers who support, advise, and engage with the AgVA including those providing technical assistance, support services, education, and advocacy on issues of safety, health, wellness, and accessibility in agricultural communities.B. Partnerships for Innovation and HARVEST (NSF)These NSF grant projects leveraged the collaboration between Virginia Tech, AgrAbility Virginia, TORC, Easter Seals UCP, and Total Motion Physical Therapy to co-develop flexible robotic systems that are wearable by farmers with mobility limitations to assist them in performing activities of daily living. The PFI:BIC project developed a robotic glove and created abackand knee exoskeleton. We developed 2outreach and educational publications and 2 conference posters in total.C. Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS)counselors, engineers, and occupational therapists in Y4 worked with AgVA to identify assistive technologies appropriate for farmer clients. In October 2022, AgVA advisory group toured DARS Engineering Lab in Richmond.D. Cooperative Extension AgentsProgram director Kim Niewolny and AgVA team membersled several professional development events with VCE agents to improve direct services opportunities and referrals.E. AgriSafeand AgVA had a joined exhibit at the Virginia Ag Expo in August 2022.We also promoted the new farm stress crisis hotline in VA with AgriSafe.F. Virginia Beginning Farmer & Rancher Coalition (VBFRC)continues to be a key partner. VBFRC for referrals and shared tabeling and outreach. 4. Marketing Aim:Our outreach specialist has continued to fulfill AgrAbility Virginia networking and marketing objectives by providing administrative support and assisting in the development and implementation of a marketing strategy to include print media, social media, and community engagement, along with team members:A. Website & Online Resources.We have maintained an active web presence during this reporting period, including updating resources and publications, as well as adding four farmer highlights to our page and adding content to two existing highlights. We have had 4,304 page views since August 1st, 2022, with 1,659 website users. Expanding our online resources has also included updating our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts with regular news blasts. In addition to providing monthly NAP e-Notes, AgVa published e-newsletters quarterly in August and October 2022 and February, March, and June 2023. Past newsletters can be accessed here:https://agrability.alce.vt.edu/Newsletters.html.B. Outreach:We tabled and conducted outreach at 22 in-person events.C. Social Media:We have 961 followers across our three social media accounts this reporting period. Our outreach coordinator has updated our Facebook and Instagram pages with 60 new posts and stories with a maximum post reach of 3,235 on Facebook and a maximum post reach of 469 on Instagram. Our Twitter account has 6 new tweets and retweets since August 22nd and has 67 followers. We had 331 visits to our Twitter profile during this reporting period.D. Publicity:At the end of July 2022, we filmed a segment aired on 'Virginia Home Grown,' Central Virginia's local gardening show. This segment featured AgVA field staff Tony Edwards demonstrating hand tools to help gardeners with disabilities. In October 2022, we filmed a segment aired on 'Grown Here at Home' in WDBJ7 showcasing an interview with Garland Mason. This piece highlighted a farmer with Cerebral Palsy we helped acquire automatic gate openers for his cattle operation. In December 2022, we filmed a segment aired on 'Virginia Home Grown,' Central Virginia's local gardening show. This segment featured an interview with a farmer we have served who is also on our advisory group. Additionally, the AgVA Outreach coordinator will mail over 300 brochures and letters to Ag teachers, individuals, and organizations across the state at the start of Septmeber 2023 as planned.

Publications

• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Mason, G., Niewolny, K. (2023). AgrAbility Virginia Program Evaluation Brief: 2023 Survey & Interview Results (VCE Publication No. ALCE-318NP). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved from https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/ALCE/alce-318/ALCE-318.pdf
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Smilnak, D., Mason, G., Franco, R., Niewolny, K., Leonessa, A. (2023). What is an Agricultural Exoskeleton? (VCE Publication No. ALCE-303NP). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved from https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/ALCE/alce-303/ALCE-303.pdf
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Smilnak, D., Mason, G., Franco, R., Niewolny, K., Leonessa, A. (2023). The Role of Farmer Input in the Design of Assistive Technologies: A Focus on Agricultural Exoskeletons (VCE Publication No. ALCE-304NP). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved from https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/ALCE/alce-304/ALCE-304.pdf
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Kyle, C., Niewolny, K., Ballin, K., Young, J., Robertson, T., Ohanehi, D. (2022). AgrAbility Virginia Program Evaluation Brief: 2016 Survey Results (VCE Publication No. ALCE-170NP). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved from https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/pubs_ext_vt_edu/en/ALCE/ALCE-170/ALCE-170.html
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Kyle, C., Niewolny, K., Ohanehi, D., Ballin, K., Young, J., Bridge, S., Robertson, T., Mason, G. (2022). AgrAbility Virginia's Mixed-Method Program Evaluation Approach and Considerations (VCE Publication No. ALCE-171NP). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved from https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/ALCE/alce-171/ALCE-171NP.pdf

Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22

Outputs
Target Audience:The AgrAbility Virginia project (AgVA) is a partnership between Virginia Tech, Virginia State University, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Easter Seals UCP, and several public and private agencies in the state of Virginia who serve the agriculture and the disability communities.We have accumulated an enviable record for serving farmers and farm family members with disabilities in Virginia while also supporting our target audineces with education about farm saftey, health, andwellness. In Y3, this project continued to support farmers in the changing face of agriculture in Virginia. The partnership was espeically dedicated to providing the best support possible to Virginia farmers with disabilities and illnesses. Historically, the project focus has been on modifying farm and ranch operations, adapting assistive technologies as needed, improving farmstead accessibility, providing financial counseling, identifying funding sources, coordinating community services, developing and delivering educational materials and programs on the prevention of secondary and primary farm injuries.In Y3, we have focused on enhancing our direct assistance capacity, providing assistance to farmers (N=33). Weconducted seven site visits with three more scheduled for August. We also provided virtual services via Zoom, phone, and emailfor a total of 33 farmers. Farmers included veterans, beginning farmers, and established farmers operating small and midsize farms with diversified vegetables, specialty crops, hay, grains, and livestock.In addition to supporting our farmer clients during this reporting period, we have published eight resources through Virginia Cooperative Extension aimed at farmers, gardeners an d service providers. These included three in partnership with health sciences graduate students from Mary Baldwin University, one in partnership with a 4-hvolunteer, and another three that were republished with significant updates and additional content. We have continued to conduct outreach to agricultural service providers who serve our target audience as well as to students, community members, and to our audience of farmers and gardeners across the state. We have conducted outreach by tabling and presenting in seventeen venues, virtually and in person with another event scheduled for August. We have also produced a biannual newsletter published in November 2021 and May 2022. Changes/Problems:The COVID-19 pandemic has continued to impact our project's activities, farmer services, and timeline.Inaccordance with the Virginia Governor's office orders, of which Virginia Cooperative Extension and Virginia Tech follow, we do offer limited in-person services and trainings. However, the majority of our training and outreach activities continue to be held virtually or in-person with limited interaction to reduce the possibility of infection to staff and our farmer clients who have health vulnerabilities. Due to COVID-19 data collection restrictions and survey saturation in 2021, in Y3 we conducted qualitative evaluation during the trainings which allowed us to collect perceptions of our programming and conduct needs assessments. We conducted this informal evaluation at the VCE Winter Conference, as well as with our advisory group and VSU SFOP staff. We also provide continuous opportunity for feedback with all farmer clients by checking in program satisfaction. We had two personnel changes in Y3: We removed Dr. Divya Srinivasan from the budget as she has moved to a new institution outside of the state. Dr. Posadas, who is already on the project, will take over her scope of work. We hired Leslie Lawrence as our new Community Outreach Specialist to replace Liza Dobson who left to farm full time. Overall,we are making good progress on our objectives and anticipate no significant issues. Our team is high functioning and verycommitted to the objectives of our work. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Staff participate in quarterly All Staff Meetings hosted by the National AgrAbility Project (NAP) (virtual). Staff also attended NAP's National Training Workshop in fall 2021 (virtual) and in spring 2022 in Madison, WI. Program coordinator attended the LIFE Project/AgrAbility Conference in Nashville, TN in June 2022. Program coordinator also attended the first meeting of the Virginia Farm Succession Network held in June 2022 which provided professional development related to farm transfer. Staff also attended the Rural Health Voice Conference in fall 2021 (virtual). In addition to our own staff's professional development during this reporting period, we have provided significant opportunity for training and professional development for agricultural service providers and farmers. These activities have included presentations at four conferences including the Mid-Atlantic Urban Agriculture Summit, the Virginia Cooperative Extension Winter Conference, the Virginia Ag Education Conference, and the Virginia Cooperative Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources Summit. Additionally, in spring 2022, we established the AgrAbility Virginia Network (AVN), a listserv made up of program partners. This expanded our network and serves to connect agricultural service providers with disability service providers in a more effective way than the Rural Rehab Partnership which we hosted in previous years. The listserv is intended to enhance communication and provide opportunities for professional development among the group of stakeholders across the state who support, advise, and engage with theAgVA including those providing technical assistance, support services, education, and advocacy on issues of safety, health, wellness, and accessibility in agricultural communities. Publications. We have produced eight publications to guide our professional development and training opporunitites.These publications were published throughVirginia Cooperative Extension: 1) Kyle, C., Niewolny, K., Ohanehi, D., Ballin, K., Young, J., Bridge, S., Robertson, T., Mason, G. (2021). A Resource Guide for Start-up Military Veteran Farmers (VCE Publication No. AEE-152NP (ALCE-277NP)). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved from https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/AEE/AEE-152/ALCE-277.pdf, 2)Kyle, C., Niewolny, K., Orndoff, N., Ohanehi, D., Ballin, K., Young, J., Bridge, S., Roberts, T., Mason, G. (2021). The Basics of On-Farm Safety: An Introductory Guide by the AgrAbility Virginia Program (VCE Publication No. AEE-151NP (ALCE-276NP)). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved from https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/AEE/AEE-151/ALCE- 276.pdf, 3)Kyle, C., Niewolny, K., Orndoff, N., Ohanehi, D., Ballin, K., Young, J., Bridge, S., Roberts, T., Mason, G. (2021). Mental Health Topics for Farm Families and Caregivers: An AgrAbility Virginia Program Resource (VCE Publication No. AEE-150NP (ALCE-275NP)). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved fromhttps://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/AEE/AEE-150/ALCE- 275.pdf, 4)Mason, G., Van Peppen, Z., Niewolny, K. (2021). Assistive Technologies to Improve Safety & Accessibility on Small Scale Diversified Vegetable Farms & Home Gardens (VCE Publication No. ALCE-269NP). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved from https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/ALCE/alce- 269/ALCE-269.pdf, 5)Nilsson, M., Mason G., Niewolny, K. (2021). Assistive Technologies for Upper Extremity Mobility on the Farm (VCE Publication No. ALCE-260NP). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved from https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/ALCE/alce-260/ALCe-260.pdf, 6)Ruller, R., Stinson, J., Mason G., Niewolny, K. (2021). Assistive Technologies to Support Farmers with Low Vision or Blindness (VCE Publication No. ALCE-259NP). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved from https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/ALCE/ALCE-259/ALCE-259.pdf, 7)Beshada, L., Dianis, M., Mason G., Niewolny, K. (2021). Assistive Technologies for Lower Extremity Mobility on the Farm (VCE Publication No. ALCE-258NP). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved from https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/ALCE/ALCE-258/ALCE- 258.pdf, 8)Mason G., Niewolny, K. (2021). AgrAbility Virginia Program Evaluation Brief: 2021 Survey & Interview Results (VCE Publication No. ALCE-255NP). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved from https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/ALCE/ALCE-255/ALCE-255.pdf How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Presentations. We presented and conducted outreach at four conferences including the Mid-Atlantic Urban Agriculture Summit, the Virginia Cooperative Extension Winter Conference, the Virginia Ag Education Conference, and the Virginia Cooperative Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources Summit. We also gave three informal presentations about AgrAbility for a VT class, the Health Equity and Access for Rural Regions (HEARR) Board Meeting, and for Fauquier County FFA. Website & Online Resources. We have updated our web presence. Activities related to this have included maintaining our website by continually adding newly created resources and a new series of farmer highlights, updating our Facebook page, Instagram account, and Twitter account with regular news blasts. We shared farmer highlights through all of these venues including photos and videos describing the farmers, their illness, injury, or disability, their work with AgrAbility and other partners like DARS, and the outcomes of the service provided. Outreach. We tabled and conducted outreach at ten in-person events, with two more scheduled for July and August:1) SunBelt Ag Expo in Moultrie, GA. 2) Virginia Brain Injury Association Annual Conference in Roanoke, VA. 3) Eastern Regional Farmer Veteran Coalition Conference in Knoxville, TN. 4) Virginia Farm Bureau Convention in Williamsburg, VA. 5) Virginia Association of Biological Farmers in Roanoke, VA. 6) Virginia Forage and Grassland Council Winter Forage Conference in Wyers Cave, VA. 7) Virginia No-Till Alliance Conference in Harrisonburg, VA. 8) National AgrAbility Project Training Workshop, Madison, WI. 9) Ag Safety Day, Harrisonburg, VA. 10) Boots to Roots Farmer Veteran Conference, Petersburg, VA. 11) Virginia Dairy Expo, Dayton, VA (anticipated July 2022). 12) Virginia Ag Expo, Port Royal, VA (anticipated August 2022). Social Media. From September 1st, 2021 to July 14th, 2022, our outreach coordinator has updated our Facebook and Instagram accounts with 145 new posts and stories. We had a total post reach of 2,535 on Facebook and 854 on Instagram. Our Facebook account has 278 likes and our Instagram account now has 347 followers. Our Twitter account has 39 new tweets since September 1st and has 58 followers. Our tweets published between September 1st and July 7th were seen a total of 4,757 times. Newsletter. AgrAbility Virginia publishes two newsletters each year in May and November. 76 individuals subscribe to our newsletter, with 47% opening our fall 2021 edition. Our newsletter is forwarded over various listservs including to Virginia Cooperative Extension Agriculture and Natural Resource Agents. Our spring newsletter was published in May 2022. Past newsletters can be accessed here: https://agrability.alce.vt.edu/Newsletters.html Mobile Unit. During Y3, AgrAbility VA partnered with the VSU Small Farm Outreach Program to launch the Virginia Agriculture Mobile Education Unit, an interactive educational tool that showcases AgVA, along with other programs and elements of Virginia agriculture. The unit was designed and built during Y1 and Y2, but its launch was delayed due to COVID-19. The unit began traveling in fall 2021 and has visited over 25 sites with over 7000 visitors. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In the next reporting period, we have several activities planned. These activities will allow us to move toward accomplishing our year four goals and toward meeting our overarching objectives. These objectives and activities include: Objective 1: Education.Activities: Virginia Tech (VT) faculty will review and revise existing publications (brochures, fact sheets, etc.); VT, Virginia State University (VSU), and Easterseals UCP (ES) will deliver culturally appropriate information to clients and their families, including through mobile units with VSU; our AgrAbility Virginia Network will provide needed services, technical assistance, information, and case coordination for clients through AgVa field coordinators; VT faculty will take lead in evaluating the effectiveness of the program annually; VT faculty/student update/publish educational materials addressing chronic health issues; Service providers, including VSU mobile unit team, will disseminate appropriate strategies for the clients engaged in high-risk operations to reduce the risk of injury; AgrAbility Virginia will design/conduct a Virginia farm safety, wellness, & health survey emphasizing quality of life indicators in partnership with the Virginia Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coalition Action Team and will partner with AgriSafe to provide educational opportunities about farm stress and mental health. Objective 2: Networking.Activities: VT-VSU maintain directory of clients and with approval, distribute contact information to other service providers; VT-VSU update/maintain stakeholder matrix of clients who have provided peer referrals; AgrAbility Virginia meets with the AgrAbility Virginia Network to provide trainings, updates, and materials to build capacity; ES, with VT and VSU, will distribute a bi-annual newsletter and monthly e-Notes to the National AgrAbility Program; VT and VSU will network with county extension offices. Objective 3: Direct Assistance.Activities: VT and VSU will use client and AVN feedback to improve the referral and initial screening procedures; VT faculty to develop a comprehensive tool to assess AT solutions to avoid secondary injuries; VT engineers to analyze individual cases and recommend adaptive technologies to avoid secondary injuries; VT-VSU works with the Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services for clients' assistive technology support, VT engineers will collaborate as needed. We will continue to submit anonymized client data to NAP for demographics reporting annually.We will conduct a mixed method programevaluation in Y4 and also provide continuous opportunity for feedback with all farmer clients and advisory group members by checking in program satisfaction. Objective 4: Marketing.Activities: AgrAbility Virginia will continue to develop a comprehensive long-term strategy to market its work; AgrAbility Virginia team will present, display, & distribute literature to publicize AgrAbility Virginia at state fairs, field days, etc. if allowable in-person (due to COVID-19 concerns); VT will familiarize and seek resources with non-USDA funding agencies (such as NSF and Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services); AgrAbility Virginia team support marketing initiatives/strategies by National AgrAbility Program; Easterseals will manage and grow the AgrAbility Virginia Assistive Technology Fund; Easterseals will refine comprehensive AgrAbility Virginia marketing plan.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. Education Aim: Weincreased awareness among farmers with disabilities about disability accommodation interventions and assistive technologies with special attention to historically underserved (e.g., African American) and vulnerable farming groups (e.g., military and beginning farmers) with a focus on farm stress, health, and wellness. Examples of key outcomes and activities include:A. Conference Presentations/Professional Developmentat four events.B. Other Presentationswere offerred about AgVA for a Virgnia Tech students (n=100), the Health Equity and Access for Rural Regions Board Meeting, and Fauquier County FFA. C. Publications We have created 5 new Extension publications and updated 3 others with newresources.D. Virginia State University Mobile Educational Unit launched in 2021. ThisMobile Education Unit is an interactive educational tool that showcases AgVA along with other programs and elements of Virginia agriculture. The unit began traveling in fall 2021 and has visited over 25 sites with over 7000 visitors. E. 'Feeling Good in the Garden' Workshopon body awareness and injury prevention for gardeners was held in partnership with DARS and the the nonprofit, Live Work Eat Grow (LWEG). We plan to hold similar workshopsin partnership with DARS and local nonprofitssF. 4H Youth Volunteer created a video describing AgrAbility Virginia for our Facebook page and helped to create a publication on assistive technologies for diversified vegetable farmers coping with disability or mobility limitations. 2. Direct Services Aim: We provided services to 33 farmers in Y3. Weconducted numberous site visits with more scheduled for August 2022.We also provided virtual services via Zoom, phone, and email.Additionally, we provided direct services to three organizations designing accessible community gardens by consulting with them and connecting them with resources and information. We also provided input and resources for a beginning farmer incubator looking to expand offerings related to farm safety, health, and wellness for their growers.We also submit anonymized client data to NAP for demographics reporting annually. In Y3 we will submit data by September 2022.Due to COVID-19 data collection restrictions and survey saturation in 2021, in Y3 we conducted qualitative evaluation during the trainings which allowed us to collect perceptions of our programming and conduct needs assessments. We conducted this informal evaluation at the VCE Winter Conference, as well as with our advisory group and VSU SFOP staff. We also provide continuous opportunity for feedback with all farmer clients by checking in program satisfaction. 3.Networking Aim: Ourteam fostered current and new networking relationships with stakeholder:A. AgrAbility Virginia Network (listserv) wasestablished toexpand our network and serves to connect agricultural service providers with disability service providers who support, advise, and engage with theAgVA including those providing technical assistance, support services, education, and advocacy on issues of safety, health, wellness, and accessibility in agricultural communities. B. Partnerships for Innovation and HARVEST (NSF) These NSF grant projects leveraged the collaboration between Virginia Tech, AgrAbility Virginia, TORC, Easter Seals UCP, and Total Motion Physical Therapy to co-develop flexible robotic systems that are wearable by farmers with mobility limitations in order to assist them in performing activities of daily living. The PFI: BIC project developed a robotic glove, the creation of a back and knee exoskeleton. Outreach and educational materials are in development.C. Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS)counselors, engineers, and occupational therapists in Y3 worked with AgVA to identify assistive technologies appropriate for farmer clients. Staff made a second field visit to the Rehabilitation Engineering Lab to create a short film about our partnership. AgVA team attended an open house hosted by the DARS office in Christiansburg, VA to meet and network with DARS staff. DARS also has partnered with us to provide trainings. We collaborated with DARS Centers for Independent Living (CILs) with plans to provide professional development opportunities for CILs staff in Y4.D. Cooperative Extension Agents Program director Kim Niewolny and team led sevearl professional develoment events with VCE agents to imporove direct services opportunities and referrals.E. Agriculture Teachers at Virginia Public Schools(n=330)received amailing with letters and brochures in January 2022. Team members also presented on the program at the Virginia Agriculture Education Conference and relayed information related to farm stress issues, trainings and resources, as well as the Farm Safety, Health, and Wellness Toolkit we developed in Y3. F. AgriSafeis a new partner with AgVa. We havemet with AgriSafe Network director and the health communications officer to network and discuss plans to partner. AgVA plans to exhibit with AgriSafe at the Virginia Ag Expo in August 2022. We will promote the new farm stress crisis hotline in VA with AgriSafe, and will partner on educational initiatives in Y4. G. Virginia Beginning Farmer & Rancher Coalition (VBFRC)continues to be a key parner. AgVa staff attended the spring 2022 meeting of the VBFRC, engaged in shared programming and networking, and partnered on direct assistance and referrals, including with member organizations within the VBFRC. 4. Marekting Aim: Ouroutreach specialist has continued to fulfill AgrAbility Virginia networking and marketing objectives by providing administrative support and assisting in the development and implementation of a marketing strategy to include print media, social media and community engagement, along with team members:A. Website & Online Resources.We have maintained an active web presence during this reporting period, including updating resources and publications, as well as adding four farmer highlights to our page and adding content to two existing highlights. We have had 3,576 page visits since September 2021 with 1,951 website users. Expanding our online resources has also included updating our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts with regular news blasts. In addition to providing monthly NAP e-Notes, AgVa published two e-newsletters.B. Outreach:We tabled and conducted outreach at ten in-person events, with two more scheduled for July and August:C. Social Media: We gained over 200 new followers across our three social media accounts this reporting period. Our outreach coordinator has updated our Facebook and Instagram pages with 144 new posts and stories with a maximum post reach of 2,538 on Facebook and a maximum post reach of 854 on Instagram.Our Twitter account has 39 new tweets and retweets since September 1st has 58 followers. We had 897 visits to our Twitter profile during this reporting period.D. Publicity: In October, 2022 we filmed a segment of 'From the Ground Up' with partners from VSU and Virginia Farm Bureau. 'From the Ground Up' is a regular feature on Virginia Public Television, as well as a YouTube channel. We are in also the process of filming a segment to be aired on 'Virginia Home Grown,' Central Virginia's local gardening show. This segment will feature an interviews with a farmer we have served who is also on our advisory group, as well as with field staff Tony Edwards. Additionally, AgVA Outreach coordinator has mailed 375 brochures to individuals and organizations across the state since September 1st. We have also created a Spanish language brochure to broaden and diversify our reach.

Publications

• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Mason G., Niewolny, K. (2021). AgrAbility Virginia Program Evaluation Brief: 2021 Survey & Interview Results (VCE Publication No. ALCE-255NP). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved from https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/ALCE/ALCE-255/ALCE- 255.pdf
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Beshada, L., Dianis, M., Mason G., Niewolny, K. (2021). Assistive Technologies for Lower Extremity Mobility on the Farm (VCE Publication No. ALCE-258NP). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved from https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/ALCE/ALCE-258/ALCE- 258.pdf
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Ruller, R., Stinson, J., Mason G., Niewolny, K. (2021). Assistive Technologies to Support Farmers with Low Vision or Blindness (VCE Publication No. ALCE-259NP). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved from https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/ALCE/ALCE-259/ALCE- 259.pdf
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Nilsson, M., Mason G., Niewolny, K. (2021). Assistive Technologies for Upper Extremity Mobility on the Farm (VCE Publication No. ALCE-260NP). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved from https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/ALCE/alce-260/ALCe- 260.pdf
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Mason, G., Van Peppen, Z., Niewolny, K. (2021). Assistive Technologies to Improve Safety & Accessibility on Small Scale Diversified Vegetable Farms & Home Gardens (VCE Publication No. ALCE-269NP). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved from https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/ALCE/alce- 269/ALCE-269.pdf
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Kyle, C., Niewolny, K., Orndoff, N., Ohanehi, D., Ballin, K., Young, J., Bridge, S., Roberts, T., Mason, G. (2021). Mental Health Topics for Farm Families and Caregivers: An AgrAbility Virginia Program Resource (VCE Publication No. AEE-150NP (ALCE-275NP)). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved from https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/AEE/AEE-150/ALCE- 275.pdf
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Kyle, C., Niewolny, K., Orndoff, N., Ohanehi, D., Ballin, K., Young, J., Bridge, S., Roberts, T., Mason, G. (2021). The Basics of On-Farm Safety: An Introductory Guide by the AgrAbility Virginia Program (VCE Publication No. AEE-151NP (ALCE-276NP)). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved from https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/AEE/AEE-151/ALCE- 276.pdf
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Kyle, C., Niewolny, K., Ohanehi, D., Ballin, K., Young, J., Bridge, S., Robertson, T., Mason, G. (2021). A Resource Guide for Start-up Military Veteran Farmers (VCE Publication No. AEE-152NP (ALCE-277NP)). Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Retrieved from https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/AEE/AEE-152/ALCE- 277.pdf

Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21

Outputs
Target Audience:The AgrAbility Virginia project (AgVA) is a partnership between Virginia Tech, Virginia State University, Easter Seals UCP, with several public and private agencies in the Commonwealth of Virginia. We have accumulated an enviable record for serving farmers and farm family members with injuries, illness and disabilities in Virginia. This project continues to support farmers in the changing face of agriculture in Virginia through education, direct service, networking, and marketing objectives. We have identified significant aims and issues pertaining to our target audicnes:1) Provide enhanced services for historically underserved farming communities with disability through 1862-1890 LGU partnership; 2) Provide targeted education and assistance in hard-to-reach settings through VSU's Mobile Unit Program; 3) Build upon current Farm Safety, Health, and Wellness Initiative to address farm safety and stress as critical mental and behavioral health issues; 4) Develop new educational resources and outreach for affordable flexible robotic devices as an emergent assistive technology strategy for farmers with disabilities. Additionally, our current project's focus has been on modifying farm and ranch operations, adapting assistive technologies as needed, improving farmstead accessibility, providing financial counseling, identifying funding sources, coordinating community services, developing and delivering educational materials and programs on the prevention of secondary and primary farm injuries. In our project, the terms, farmers and farm workers, will be used in the broadest possible sense to include farmers, farm and agricultural workers, ranchers, and their family members. The generic term, "farmers" will apply to all. Toward this end, our project coordinator has assisted the project directors with project management and outreach and has coordinated service to those 21 farmers in partnership with our two field coordinators. COVID-19 continues to be a barrier in conducting field visits to farms but we have been able to conduct seventeen site visits to conduct assessments with fifteen farmers (we visited two farmers twice). These visits were conducted with COVID-19 protocols such as masks and social distancing in place. Additionally, we conducted six assessments with five farmer clients via Zoom (we met with one farmer twice). We also conducted one training tour with an aspiring farmer who has paraplegia and is interested in beginning a flower farm. These on-site and Zoom meetings were generally conducted in partnership with local specialists from Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Virginia State University Small Farm Outreach Program, as well as with counselors, occupational therapists, and rehabilitation engineers from the Virginia Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS).Currently, we have 21 farmer clients who are ranging in age from 35-79and have experienced arthritis, injury, PTSD, cerebral palsyand/or stoke, among other challenges, that require monitoring and DARS Assistive Technology referrals (20= male; 1=female) (4= African American; 1=Hispanic;16=Caucasian) (9=military veterans). In partnership with DARS, we have added an extra step and handrails for a tractor for a farmer who experienced a stroke. We also procured an automatic gate opener for a farmer with cerebral palsy and a history of seizures who has trouble getting into an out of his tractor to open gates. We have also provided technical assistance to several (n=4) veteran beginning farmers who have experienced PTSD, fibromyalgia, traumatic brain injury, and/or various injuries associated with military servce. The AgVA team also continues to work with the service provider community to build capacity to meet project objectives. We continueto work with our 7-person Advisory Group (AG), which was launched in 2015 and relaunched in 2020 following the renewed funding for our project. These individuals are either service providers or previous farmer-clients. The AG is helping to increase the scope and depth of AgVA services and resources for farmers and agricultural workers who we are working with. Changes/Problems:The COVID-19 pandemic has continued to impact our project's activities, farmer services, and timeline. Conferences and events were largely cancelled while others were held online, which we believe has diminished participation and awareness of our services. 'Tabling' at virtual events has been less effective than tabling in person and online conferences have had fewer participants or less engagement than they would have had in-person. Our advisory group meetings have also been conducted entirely over Zoom, making team-building possible but more difficult. We have conducted more assessments with farmer clients over Zoom than we likely would have without COVID-19 impacts. Most significantly, our NSF-funded project for developing affordable flexible robotics has been heavily impacted by COVID-19 as shutdowns and limitations imposed by the University have made volunteer participant recruitment impossible. Last, the development of the AgVA exhibit in the Virginia State University Mobile Educational Unit was delayed due to COVID-19. The fabrication of the unit was slowed due to the pandemic. The mobile unit is anticipated to be completed in summer 2021. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In addition to our own staff's professional development during this reporting period, we have provided significant opportunity for training and professional development for agricultural service providers and farmers. These activities have included: Staff training. The program coordinator and two field staff participated in a half day training on mental health first aid given by Mississippi State University in partnership with Mental Health First Aid. The program coordinator, one field staff and the communications and outreach specialist conducted a field visit to the DARS Rehabilitation Engineering Lab in Richmond to learn more about their work and to strengthen the partnership between AgrAbility and DARS by promoting mutual understanding. These staff members also made a field visit to the Virginia State Small Farm Outreach Program Demonstration Farm to learn more about the program and to strengthen the partnership between Virginia Tech (where the program coordinator is based), Virginia State University (where the field staff is based), and Easterseals UCP (where the communications and outreach specialist is based). Publications. We have produced three publications since Sept 2020 through Virginia Cooperative Extension. These publications include: Mason, G., & Niewolny, K. (2020). The Farm Safety, Health & Wellness Toolkit. Virginia Cooperative Extension. Morgan, K. L., Nunoo, N., Mason, G., & Niewolny, K. (2020). Farmer Financial Health and Wellbeing Assessment: A Tool for Fostering Supportive Financial Conversations. Virginia Cooperative Extension. Nunoo, N., Mason, G. N., Niewolny, K., & Morgan, K. O. (2020). Managing Farm Financial Stress for a Healthy Farm and a Healthy Farm Family. Virginia Cooperative Extension. Also, in Y2, Garland Mason (program coordinator), Dr. Kim Niewolny (PD), and Andy Seibel (advisory group member), wrote an article titled "Increasing Accessibility from Field to Classroom: Considerations from AgrAbility Virginia" for The Agriculture Education Magazine. This article will be published summer 2021. Webinars. As part of the culminating webinars of the Farm Safety, Health, and Wellness Initiative, we hosted three webinars in collaboration with the Virginia Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coalition. In 2020, these webinars included: "Using the Farm Financial Stress Assessment Tool: A Webinar for Extension Agents" attended by 27, "Spotlight on Farm Safety, Health, and Wellness Toolkit for Managing Farm Stress and Mental Health" attended by 31, and "Mindfulness and Self Care for Farmers" attended by 27. Also, in collaboration with the Virginia Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coalition, we presented seven webinars related to farm safety and wellness as well as economic diversity to relieve farm stress. These webinars included "Injury Prevention for Farmers" attended by 38, "Social Media for Farmers" attended by 60, "Yoga for Farmers" attended by 36, "Winter High Tunnel Growing in Virginia" attended by 164, "Lean Farming on the Ground" attended by 54, and "An Introduction to Building Soil Health: A Farmers Perspective" attended by 105. These webinars were attended by current AgrAbility clients as well as farmers and service providers. Through our NSF HARVEST colloboration, we also hosted six talks from scholars from different universities focusing on topics such as citizen science, big data in agriculture, and rural entrepreneurship. These talks were attended by about 15 participants each. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have disseminated our results to communities of interest through our website and online resources, through outreach at in-person and virtual conferences, through social media, through radio advertising, through a press release, through brochure mailings, and through our newsletter. Website & Online Resources. We have updated our web presence. Activities related to this have included finalizing our new website with a diversity if resources, updating our Facebook page and Instagram account with regular news blasts and creating a Twitter account devoted to our work. Outreach. We conducted outreach by tabling at the following venues: The American Dairy Association Summer Meeting & Virginia State Dairyman's Association Summer Board meeting in Rockingham County (9/29/20) Shenandoah Valley Produce Auction Annual Grower Meeting in Dayton (10/29/21) We conducted outreach by participating in the following virtual events: Boots to Roots Farmer Veteran Conference (11/12/20) Brain Injury Association Virtual Conference (11/14/20) 2021 VFGC Virtual Winter Forage Conference (1/18-22/21) Mid Atlantic Strawberry School (3/1/21) The Green Prescription: Connecting the Dots between Internal & External (3/10/21) Virginia Cooperative Extension 1st Friday Presentation (5/7/21) Social Media. From September 1st, 2020 to May 19, 2021, our outreach coordinator has updated our Facebook with 105 new posts with a maximum post reach of 1.2K. Our Instagram account now has 247 followers and has been updated with 21 new posts during this time period with a maximum post reach of 184. Our Twitter account has 47 new tweets and retweets since September 1st and has 35 followers. Publicity. AgrAbility projects in Virginia and North Carolina partnered to publish a weekly radio advertisement with On the Farm Radio. This segment is aired across 85 regional radio stations 1-4 times per day at the radio stations discretion. AgrAbility Virginia also published a press release that was printed in at least three platforms including a newspaper and two online publications. AgrAbility Virginia Outreach coordinator has mailed 171 brochures to individuals and organizations across the state since September 1st. A brochure in Spanish is being finalized for dissemination this summer. Newsletter. AgrAbility Virginia publishes two newsletters each year in May and November. The Fall 2020 newsletter was sent to 45 individuals with a 62% open rate. It was then forwarded over various listservs including to Virginia Cooperative Extension ANR Agents. Our second newsletter of the grant period is scheduled to be published at the end of the month. Mobile Unit. Currently, the education unit is in Midland, Michigan being retrofitted with exhibits to showcase agriculture and its endless opportunities. A section of the trailer is dedicated to AgrAbility (see attached) with general information about the SCRAP and an interactive adapted hand tool demonstration. The AgrAbility booth includes a touch screen video player where guests can learn about the National AgrAbility Project as well as meet a past client and a current staff member. There will also be a brochure holder for guests to take more information home. The unit is expected to return to VSU by mid- summer2021 to make its debut for the VSU annual field day where over 300 producers will participate. The Education Unit will have an extensive schedule once returned, that will include the Virginia State Fair,the Sunbelt Ag Expo in Moultrie, GA as well as several other stops around the state of Virginia. There will be three employees trained to move the unit ensure the unit is readily available. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In the next reporting period we plan to have a number of activities planned. These activities will allow us to move toward accomplishing our year three goals and toward meeting our overarching objectives. These objectives and activities include: Objective 1: Education Activities: Virginia Tech (VT) faculty will review and revise existing publications (brochures, fact sheets, etc.); VT, Virginia State University (VSU), and Easterseals UCP (ES) will deliver culturally appropriate information to clients and their families, including through mobile units with VSU (delayed to Y3 by COVID-19); our Rural Rehabilitation Partnership (RRP) will provide needed services, technical assistance, information, and case coordination for clients through AgVa field coordinators; VT faculty will take lead in evaluating the effectiveness of the program annually; VT faculty/student update/publish educational materials addressing chronic health issues; Service providers, including VSU mobile unit team, will disseminate appropriate strategies for the clients engaged in high-risk operations to reduce the risk of injury; AgrAbility Virginia will design/conduct a Virginia farm safety, wellness, & health survey in partnership with the Virginia Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coalition Action Team. Objective 2: Networking Activities: VT-VSU maintain directory of clients and with approval, distribute contact information to other clients; VT-VSU update/maintain stakeholder matrix of clients who have provided peer referrals; AgrAbility Virginia meets with the RRP to provide trainings, updates, and materials to build capacity; ES, with VT and VSU, will distribute a bi-annual newsletter and monthly e-Notes to the National AgrAbility Program; VT and VSU will network with county extension offices. Objective 3: Direct Assistance Activities: VT and VSU will use client and RRP feedback to improve the referral and initial screening procedures; VT faculty to develop a comprehensive tool to assess AT solutions to avoid secondary injuries; VT engineers to analyze individual cases and recommend adaptive technologies to avoid secondary injuries; VT-VSU works with the Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services for clients' assistive technology support, VT engineers will collaborate as needed. Objective 4: Marketing Activities: AgrAbility Virginia will continue to develop a comprehensive long-term strategy to market its work; AgrAbility Virginia team will present, display, & distribute literature to publicize AgrAbility Virginia at state fairs, field days, etc. if allowable in-person (due to COVID-19 concerns); VT will familiarize and seek resources with non-USDA funding agencies (such as NSF); AgrAbility Virginia team support marketing initiatives/strategies by National AgrAbility Program; Easterseals will manage and grow the AgrAbility Virginia Assistive Technology Fund; Easterseals will develop comprehensive AgrAbility Virginia marketing plan using Murphy Deming & National AgrAbility Program templates.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Since September, AgrAbility Virginia has been strengthening the organization of our team, conducting outreach to agricultural service providers and farmers, and providingdirect services to farmers with disabilities operating in Virginia. We have ateam of scientists and practitioners from diverse backgrounds and have held nine monthly one-hour team meetings to discuss the project, provide updates, and gather feedback on the work. Education Priority: We have created three new Extension publications for the agricultural service provider and lay audience to address stress and safety issues. Additionally, Garland Mason (program coordinator), Dr. Kim Niewolny (PD), and Andy Seibel (advisory group member), wrote an article titled "Increasing Accessibility from Field to Classroom: Considerations from AgrAbility Virginia" for The Agriculture Education Magazine. This article will be published in the July-August 2021 issue.Further, we have partnered with and supported the Virginia Beginning Farmer and Rancher program to host nine webinars.In response to the shutdowns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, one of our field staff recorded two trainings from the farm stress curriculum and uploaded them to YouTube. 'Weathering the Storm in Agriculture' has been viewed 11 times, and 'Communicating with Farmers Under Stress' has been viewed 27 times since both were uploaded 11 months ago. Last, we conducted a comprehensive program evaluation this year. Our survey was answered by nine out of 48 farmer clients from the past five years. Additionally, eight of 13 service providers answered the service provider survey. Three farmer clients were interviewed as a component of the evaluation. Most AgVA farmer clients indicated that AgVA was useful and made positive changes in their lives, and that they are more hopeful in their ability to meet their farming goals. Overall, participants were satisfied with AgVA programming. Service providers reported overwhelmingly positive experiences partnering with AgVA. Networking Priority: We presented and conducted outreach at several virtual conferences. Garland Mason (Program Coordinator) presented about AgVA at the Boots to Roots Farmer Veteran Conference. Kim Niewolny (Program Director), Garland Mason, and Jeremy Daubert presented to Virginia Cooperative Extension agents at a First Fridays Event (5-7-21, virtual). During Y2, HARVEST with AgrAbility hosted a speaker series (n=6) inviting researchers from different universities related to the HARVEST research coordination network on issues related to technology, accessibility, and farm viability. The presentations averaged about 15 attendees each.HARVEST at Virginia Tech will continue welcoming speakers through the 2021-2022 academic year. We have also partnered with Mary Baldwin University's Murphy Deming School of Health Sciences to create three guides to assistive technology.We are in the editing phase of producing these documents and anticipate their publication by August 2021. Direct Assistance Priority: During this reporting period, though we have directed energy toward all four of our objectives (direct services, education, networking, and marketing), we have focused our time on goal #1 "Provide enhanced direct services for historically underserved and vulnerable farming communities with disability in Virginia through 1862-1890 LGU partnership" by providing services to 21 farmers?. Theproject coordinator and two field staff have been responsible for responding to the needs of farmer clients by conducting site visits and coordinating with farmers and other service providers to ensure farmers experiencing disability have access to adaptive technologies that allow them to continue to have fulfilling work in agriculture. COVID-19 continues to be a barrier in conducting field visits to farms but we have been able to conduct seventeen site visits to conduct assessments with fifteen farmers (we visited two farmers twice). These visits were conducted with COVID-19 protocols such as masks and social distancing in place. Additionally, we conducted six assessments with five via Zoom (we met with one farmer twice). We also conducted one training tour with an aspiring farmer who has paraplegia and is interested in beginning a flower farm. These on-site and Zoom meetings were generally conducted in partnership with local specialists from Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Virginia State University Small Farm Outreach Program, as well as with counselors, occupational therapists, and rehabilitation engineers from DARS. We also have an established advisory group to help guide and manage our program as we provide direct services to farmer-clients. Our advisory group consists of seven individuals from various organizations related to agriculture and rehabilitation. The advisory group meets bi-annually to discuss specific cases and help the project management team provide appropriate services to farmers. We convened this advisory group for a 1.5 hour meeting in February to provide updates and gather feedback. Another meeting is planned for August 2021. Affordable Flexible Robotics: Our team continues to be active in two NSF-funded projects that aim to 1) advance the affordable wearable robotic technologies developedfor farmers with mobility restrictions and 2) explore the role of socio-technology to addressing sustainability on small farms. This past year,we conducted in-lab testing of the back exoskeleton with typical farming tasks,a prerequisite for testing it inreal-world settings. We are currently analyzing the data.We are alsocontinuing to improve the control system of the knee exoskeleton. Finally, the design of the assistive glove is almost completeand will start testing in the Fall. Additionally, 123 engineering students took design classes with project co-PIs in Y2 and worked on 23 projects. Marketing Priority: A. Website & Online Resources.We have updated our web presence. Activities related to this have included finalizing our new website with a diversity of resources, updating our Facebook page and Instagram account with regular news blasts and creating a Twitter account devoted to our work.In addition to providing monthly NAP e-Notes, AgVa is publishing the third e-newsletter June 2021.B. Outreach:We tabled and conducted outreach at two in-person events:1)The American Dairy Association Summer Meeting & Virginia State Dairyman's Association Summer Board meeting in Rockingham County (9/29/20)&2)Shenandoah Valley Produce Auction Annual Grower Meeting in Dayton (10/29/21).We also conducted outreach by participating in the following virtual events:1)Boots to Roots Farmer Veteran Conference (11/12/20), 2)Brain Injury Association Virtual Conference (11/14/20), 3)2021 VFGC Virtual Winter Forage Conference (1/18-22/21),4)Mid Atlantic Strawberry School (March 1, 2021), 5)The Green Prescription: Connecting the Dots between Internal & External (3/10/21), 6)Virginia Cooperative Extension First Friday Presentation (5/7/21).C. Social Media:Our outreach coordinator has updated our Facebook with 105 new posts with a maximum post reach of 1.2K.Our Instagram account now has 247 followers and has been updated with 21 new posts during this time period with a maximum post reach of 184.Our Twitter account has 47 new tweets and retweets since September 1st and has 35 followers.D. Publicity:AgrAbility projects in Virginia and North Carolina partnered to publish a weekly radio advertisement with On the Farm Radio. This segment is aired across 85 regional radio stations 1-4 times per day at the radio stations discretion. AgVA also published a press release that was printed in at least three platforms including a newspaper and two online publications.AgVA Outreach coordinator has mailed 171 brochures to individuals and organizations across the state since September 1st. A brochure in Spanish is being finalized for dissemination this summer.

Publications

• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Mason, G., Niewolny, K. (2020). The Farm Safety, Health & Wellness Toolkit. Virginia Cooperative Extension.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Morgan, K., Nunoo, N., Mason, G., Niewolny, K. (2020). Farmer Financial Health and Wellbeing Assessment: A Tool for Fostering Supportive Financial Conversations. Virginia Cooperative Extension.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Nunoo, N., Mason, G., Niewolny, K., Morgan, K. (2020). Best Practices to Managing Farm Financial Health and Wellbeing. Virginia Cooperative Extension.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Nunoo, N., Mason, G., Niewolny, K., Morgan, K. (2020). Managing Farm Financial Stress for a Healthy Farm and a Healthy Farm Family. Virginia Cooperative Extension.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Mason, G., Niewolny, K. (2020). Farm Stress and Grief in the Time of COVID-19: Strategies and Resources. Virginia Cooperative Extension.

Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20

Outputs
Target Audience:The AgrAbility Virginia project (AgVA) is a partnership between Virginia Tech, Virginia State University, Easter Seals UCP, with several public and private agencies in the Commonwealth of Virginia. We have accumulated an enviable record for serving farmers and farm family members with injuries, illness and disabilities in Virginia. This project continues to support farmers in the changing face of agriculture in Virginia through education, direct service, networking, and marketing objectives. We have identified significant aims and issues pertaining to our target audicnes:1) Provide enhanced services for historically underserved farming communities with disability through 1862-1890 LGU partnership; 2) Provide targeted education and assistance in hard-to-reach settings through VSU's Mobile Unit Program; 3) Build upon current Farm Safety, Health, and Wellness Initiative to address farm safety and stress as critical mental and behavioral health issues; 4) Develop new educational resources and outreach for affordable flexible robotic devices as an emergent assistive technology strategy for farmers with disabilities. Additionally, our current project's focus has been on modifying farm and ranch operations, adapting assistive technologies as needed, improving farmstead accessibility, providing financial counseling, identifying funding sources, coordinating community services, developing and delivering educational materials and programs on the prevention of secondary and primary farm injuries. In our project, the terms, farmers and farm workers, will be used in the broadest possible sense to include farmers, farm and agricultural workers, ranchers, and their family members. The generic term, "farmers" will apply to all. We have addressed numerous (n=23) phone and email questions and in-person (15) technical assistance needs pertaining to injury and rehabilitation needs since November 2019 when our programming officially launched with USDA resources in place to staff our team. Currently, we have 3 farmer clients who are over the age of 55 and have experienced arthritis, injury, and/or stoke that require monitoring and DARS Assistive Technology referrals (3= male) (2= African American; 1=Caucasian). The AgVA team also continues to work with the service provider community to build capacity to meet project objectives. First, we contiune to work with our 7-person Advisory Group (AG), which was launched in 2015 and relaunched in 2020 following the renewed funding for our project. These individuals are either service providers or previous farmer-clients. The AG is helping to increase the scope and depth of AgVA services and resources for farmers and agricultural workers who call AgrAbility for assistance through marketing and funding ideas for the Assistive Technology Fund, managed by ESUCP. We are also planning for long-term program sustainability, which, we believe, requires the advice and guidance of individuals in the larger community who are familiar with AgrAbility Virginia programming goals, services, and resources. The representatives include: Wilson Workforce and Rehabilitation Center, Virginia Rural Health Association, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, Farm Bureau, Ms. Terrie Webb (Farmer), Gwynn Hamilton (Farmer), and Clif Slade (Farmer). AgVA also collaborates closely with the Virginia Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coalition (VBFRC) Program through statewide meetings and in-service training events for agricultural service providers and educators. We collaborated with VBFRC to host a farmer listening session in March in the wake of COVID-19. This listening session was attended by 220 farmers and agricultural service providers. Lastly, we have worked with Practicum Program of the Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences (Mary Baldwin College). The school offers Doctorates in occupational and physical therapies. The Practicum Program partnered up a student team to provide a support service for AgVA. We worked with one semester team to develop five fictional case studies to be used in training both farm service providers and farmers on farm stress and mental health interventions. Changes/Problems:COVID-19 NOTES: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our project's activities, farmer services, and timeline. First, several trainings were cancelled following our university's policy, which is in accordance with the Virgnia Governor's office orders. Cancellations include: 3/17 and 3/18 Weathering the storm trainings were canceled as part of COVID-19 shut-down. These trainings were part of our planned 2-day Military Veteran Conference at Virginia State University where we were planning to train military veteran and socially disadvantaged farmers, and providers who work with this audience, with our tool kit materials. 4/25/2020 Weathering the storm, Smyth, currently cancelled as part of COVID-19 shut-down. Agritourism Conference, safety training and outreach cancelledas part of COVID-19 shut-down. Spring Communicating with Farmers under Stress Valley postponed as part of COVID-19 shut-down Our staff had also planned to attend the AgrAbility NTW in Madison, Wisconsin, in March for additional training but the conference was cancelled due to COVID-19. Program evaluation with farmers will occur during the last quarter of Y1 as originally planned, once VT-IRB restrictions are released as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lastly, COVID-19 and our universities' policies on face-to-face interactions during this time have limited our ability to recuit and work with farmers with on-farm assesemetns in the field through September, 2020. Personnel Changes in 2019: Mr. Andy Seibel was orginally slated as one of our field coordiantors. In Decemeber of 2019, Mr. Seibel annoucened he woudld be taking a new position that no longer allows him to participate as an AgrAbility Service Coordinator with Virginia Cooperative Extension. Due to his expertise in extension, farm safety education, and mental health in agriculture programming, our team recruited Mr. Jeremy Daubert, Virginia Cooperative Extension Agent, to fill the role of the AgrAbility Service Coordinator with Virginia Cooperative Extension. Mr. Daubert agreed and is now one of two AgrAbility Service Coordinators. His % time commitment to the project per academic year (CY) is 50% (Y1 -Y4) as it was orginally set asside for Mr. Seibel. Ms. Garland Mason, PhD student at Virginia Tech, serves in the project as Project (Program) Coordinator. In January 2020, Ms. Mason changed roles at the university from graduate student to part-time employee (30 hours week) due to health reasons. This change in student status did not impact our project. She has maintained full responsibilities as Project Coordinator with success. She will return to her GRA, PhD student status in the fall, which reflects our current and orginal budget. Timeline: Our USDA funding was first established at Virginia Tech in October 2019. Therefore, we were unable to staff our project until the fall months, which is after our official start date. This pushed our timeline back by 1/2 quarter for Y1. However, we are making good progress on our objectives and anticipate no significant issues. Our team is high functioning and very committed to the objectives of our work. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In addition to our own staff's professional development during this reporting period, we have provided significant opportunity for training and professional development for agricultural service providers and farmers. These activities have included: Staff training. A 2.5 hour training for our field staff to equip our staff with the knowledge and resources to conduct farmer-client intakes and assessments, and to assist farmers with the procurement of adaptive technologies. Farm stress curriculum. Two team members were trained in a farm stress curriculum. Those individuals have been leading two types of farm trainings targeting farmers and the service provider community: "Communicating with Farmers Under Stress" and "Weathering the Storm: How to Cultivate a Productive Mindset." Three more members are currently being trained in this curriculum to increase our implementation footprint for 2020 through the online Mental health first aid trainings led my Michigan State University's Extension program. Trainings included: 1/16/2020: Weathering the Storm, Northumberland County (65 participants)* 2/18/2020: Weathering the Storm, Giles County 2/21/20 Weathering the Storm, Goochland County (16 participants)* 2/22/2020 Weathering the Storm, Russell County 3/3/2020 Weathering the Storm - How to Cultivate a Productive Mindset Halifax County *training led by our AgrAbility field coordinator Farm Dinner Theaters.The team had previously identified two Virginia Cooperative Extension agents interested in offering farm dinner theater. Amy Byington's (VCE agent in Lee County) Dinner Theatre took place on February 22, 2020 during the Women in Agriculture Conference in Lebanon, VA with 53 participants. The scripts were written by Lee FFA Members with assistance from Beth Shell and Amy Byington and adapted from Dr. Reed's Farm Dinner Theatre Tool Kit. The students took four weeks to research and write their plays.The FFA members were also the actors for the plays. BradJarvis'(VCE agent in Madison County) Dinner Theatre took place on February 20th, 2020 with 75 participants at Graves Mountain Lodge, Syria, VA. Actors were from the farm community and the scripts were adapted from Dr. Reed's Farm Dinner Theatre Tool Kit. The plays were directed by Shirley Workman, local theater company. The goal of these Farm Safety Dinner Theaters were to provide a relaxed environment that farmers and their families can identify safety and stress issues and watch as these issues are processed by the actors while simply eating a meal. In addition, the theater gives the audience the opportunity to think about how they would react in the situations. The events were set up for open communication to occur among the audience and their families. Mental Health First Aid Training for Adults session for VCE's winter conference. (January 28-30, 2020). Dr. Niewolny (PI) collaborated with Dr. Jewel Bronaugh, Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture, to lead an Extension wide training session at the January 29th winter VCE conference that together reached over 600 plus VCE agents across the state to raise awareness of the issues pertaining to farm stress and the resources that are being created and implemented to address the issues as an element of this project and the VA Farm Stress Task Force Webinars. We hosted four webinars. On October 28th we hosted a webinar titled "Stress on the Farm: Getting Through and Thriving." This webinar attracted 51 participants and was designed to help participants understand the stressors associated with farming and how to deal with that stress in order for body and mind to thrive, even when times are tough. Deborah Reed, PhD, FAAOHN, FAAN, RN, Agricultural Health Nurse and Farm Family Member presented this webinar via Zoom. The second webinar, also presented by Dr. Deborah Reed, was titled "Protecting Your Health and Safety as the Years Go By." This webinar was presented on November 19th. The webinar was designed to help farmers and service providers understand the risks associated with aging bodies and learn how to protect health and modify farm work as the years roll on so farmers can continue working in agriculture. Our third webinar was presented by Livvy Preisser, Virginia Cooperative Extension Agent in Isle of Wight County on February 12th. The webinar was titled "Agritourism Safety in Virginia" and discussed farm safety-related topics relevant for farmers who intend to open their farms for agritourism. Fifteen farmers and service providers attended this webinar. Last, Dr. Deborah Reed presented another webinar on April 20th. This webinar was titled "Stress and Safety: Decrease one, Increase the other." We were able to pivot this webinar to fit the current needs emerging from pandemic, linking farm stress resulting from conditions related to the pandemic to farm safety, acknowledging that increased stress is often accompanied by increased risk on the farm. 69 participants attended this webinar.? How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have disseminated our results to communities of interest through our website and online resources, through outreach at conferences, through social media, through publicity for our program in Virginia Tech Magazine, and through our newsletter. Website & Online Resources. We have updated our web presence. Activities related to this have included migrating our website from a WordPress site to a site hosted by Virginia Tech (update in progress), updating our Facebook page with regular news blasts and creating an Instagram feed devoted to our work. We also have been utilizing and building upon the Farm Safety, Health, and Wellness Webpage and Google Drive for statewide use to improve the availability of resources and information on the farm safety, health, and wellness. Outreach. We conducted outreach by tabling at the following venues: Virginia Farm Bureau Conference in Virginia Beach (11/17-19, 2019) Virginia Farm to Table Conference in Weyers Cave (12/ 5-7, 2019) Winter Forage Conferences in Wytheville (1/21), Chatham (1/22), & Weyers Cave (1/24) Virginia Cooperative Extension Conference, Roanoke, VA (1/ 28-30) VA Women in Agriculture Conferences in Goochland, VA (2/20-21) & Russell, VA (2/22) Social Media. Our outreach coordinator has updated our Facebook with 29 new posts with an average post reach of 186 and a maximum post reach of 1483. We have also created an Instagram account with 13 new posts and a maximum post reach of 116. Publicity. Our AgrAbility Virginia project and the affiliate Farm Safety, Health, and Wellness Initiative were featured in the Fall 2019 issue of Virginia Tech Magazine. The Agrability Virginia program is featured on page 27 and provides coverage of our teamwork and farmers. Available at: https://www.vtmag.vt.edu/fall19/VTMag_Fall2019.pdf Newsletter. Our first newsletter of the grant period is scheduled to be published at the end of May. It is anticipated that this newsletter will reach over 500 individuals including agricultural service professionals and farmers. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In the next reporting period we plan have a number of activities planned. These activities will allow us to move toward accomplishing our year two goals and toward meeting our overarching objectives. These objectives and activities include: AgrAbility Virginia Goals under Education Priority: Activities: Virginia Tech (VT) faculty will review and revise existing publications (brochures, fact sheets, etc.); VT, Virginia State University (VSU), and Easterseals UCP (ES) will deliver culturally appropriate information to clients and their families, including through mobile units with VSU; our Rural Rehabilitation Partnership (RRP) will provide needed services, technical assistance, information, and case coordination for clients through AgVa field coordinators; VT faculty will take lead in evaluating the effectiveness of the program annually; VT faculty/student revise educational materials addressing chronic health issues; Service providers, including VSU mobile unit team, will disseminate appropriate strategies for the clients engaged in high-risk operations to reduce the risk of injury; AgrAbility Virginia will design/conduct a Virginia farm safety, wellness, & health survey in partnership with the Virginia Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coalition Action Team. AgrAbility Virginia Goals under Networking Priority: Activities: VT-VSU maintain directory of clients and with approval, distribute contact information to other clients; VT-VSU update/maintain stakeholder matrix of clients who have provided peer referrals; AgrAbility Virginia meets with the RRP to provide trainings, updates, and materials to build capacity; ES, with VT and VSU, will distribute a bi-annual newsletter and monthly e-Notes to the National AgrAbility Program; VT and VSU will network with county extension offices. AgrAbility Virginia Goals under Direct Assistance Priority: Activities: VT and VSU will use client and RRP feedback to improve the referral and initial screening procedures; VT faculty to develop a comprehensive tool to assess AT solutions to avoid secondary injuries; VT engineers to analyze individual cases and recommend adaptive technologies to avoid secondary injuries; VT-VSU works with the Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services for clients' assistive technology support, VT engineers will collaborate as needed. The AgrAbility Virginia Goals under Marketing Priority: Activities: AgrAbility Virginia will continue to develop a comprehensive long-term strategy to market its work; AgrAbility Virginia team will present, display, & distribute literature to publicize AgrAbility Virginia at state fairs, field days, etc. if allowable in-person (due to COVID-19 concerns); VT will familiarize and seek resources with non-USDA funding agencies (such as NSF); AgrAbility Virginia team support marketing initiatives/strategies by National AgrAbility Program; Easterseals will manage and grow the AgrAbility Virginia Assistive Technology Fund; Easterseals will develop comprehensive AgrAbility Virginia marketing plan using Murphy Deming & National AgrAbility Program templates.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? AgrAbility Virginia Goals under Education Priority: With AgrAbility providing leadership and expertise, we have partnered with and supported the Virginia Farm Safety, Health and Wellness Initiative and Virginia Farm Stress Task Force (led by Commissioner of Agriculture) to create a Farm Safety, Health, and Wellness curriculum and toolkit, host four webinars, conduct two farm dinner theatres, create a brochure on the farm stress and mental health resources, and provide five trainings on farm stress attracting over 300 participants. We have also partnered with Mary Baldwin University's Murphy Deming School of Health Sciences to create and publish five fictional case study vignettes on farm stress to be used in training farm service professionals in mental health interventions. These are published through Extension. Additionally, we conducted a Mental Health First Aid Training for Adults session for Virginia Cooperative Extension's (VCE) winter conference in January with over 600 participants. Last, we have developed three publications we have developed for a practitioner and lay audience. One publication is a Decision-Making Guide for Farm Service Providers and Educators, the other two relate to COVID-19 with one on lawncare safety for the whole family during the pandemic and the other related to farm stress and the experience of grief during COVID-19. AgrAbility Virginia Goals under Networking Priority: We have partnered with the Virginia Farm Wellness, Health, and Safety Task Force, the Virginia Beginning Farmer and Rancher Coalition (VBFRC), and Mary Baldwin University's Murphy Deming School of Health Sciences to fulfill goals under the education priority. Additionally, in partnership with VBFRC, we hosted a listening session for farmers to provide a forum for them to express their concerns related to agriculture and the pandemic. The listening session attracted 220 participants. Next, our team continues to be active in two NSF-funded projects that aim to 1) advance the affordable wearable robotic technologies developed specifically for farmers with mobility restrictions and 2) explore the role of socio-technology to addressing sustainability on small farms. This past year, we participated in the completion of the second phase of the Affordable Flexible Robotics to Aid Farmers with Mobility Limitations project in conducting farmers' focus interviews across the state with the objective to gather farmers' perceptions on the wearable robotic technology under development at Virginia Tech. During this reporting period, we have also expanded our network by recruiting and forming an advisory group to help guide and manage our program as we provide direct services to farmer-clients. Our advisory group consists of 7 individuals from various organizations related to agriculture and rehabilitation. It is anticipated that the advisory group will meet regularly to discuss specific cases and help the project management team provide appropriate services to farmers. AgrAbility Virginia Goals under Direct Assistance Priority: Since November, AgrAbility Virginia has been organizing our team, conducting outreach to agricultural service providers and farmers, and preparing our team to provide enhanced direct services to farmers with disabilities operating in Virginia. We have convened a team of scientists and practitioners from diverse backgrounds. We have hired a project coordinator to assist with the project directors with project management and outreach. Two field staff were also contracted as part of the team, these staff members along with the project coordinator will be responsible for responding to the needs of farmer-clients by conducting site visits and coordinating with farmers and other service providers to ensure farmers experiencing disability have access to adaptive technologies that allow them to continue to have fulfilling work in agriculture. We have assembled a team of specialists to assist with the project including personnel from Virginia Tech, Virginia State University, Easterseals UCP, and Virginia Cooperative Extension. We have held nine monthly one-hour team meetings to discuss the project and one 2.5 hour meeting to train our new field staff in providing direct assistance to farmers Though our capacity to provide direct service to farmers and the demand for direct services have both been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have addressed numerous (n=23) phone and email questions and in-person technical assitance (n=15) inqurieis pertaining to injury and rehabilitation needs since November 2019 when our programming officially launched with USDA resources in place to staff our team. ?Currently, we have 3 farmer clients who are over the age of 55 and have experienced arthritis, injury, and/or stoke that require monitoring and DARS Assistive Technology referrals (3= male) (2= African American; 1=Caucasian). In addition, we have assembled an advisory group of rural rehabilitation experts to guide the project and assist with specific technical questions related to services and adaptive technologies. Next, our team continues to be active in two NSF-funded projects that aim to 1) advance the affordable wearable robotic technologies developed specifically for farmers with mobility restrictions and 2) explore the role of socio-technology to addressing sustainability on small farms. This past year, we participated in the completion of the second phase of the Affordable Flexible Robotics to Aid Farmers with Mobility Limitations project in conducting farmers' focus interviews across the state with the objective to gather farmers' perceptions on the wearable robotic technology under development at Virginia Tech. These efforts will enhance our capacity to provide direct assistance in the form of adaptive technologies to farmers in the future. The AgrAbility Virginia Goals under Marketing Priority: We have updated our online presence through hiring a community outreach specialist to join our team. The community outreach specialist was hired to fulfill AgrAbility Virginia networking and marketing objectives by providing administrative support and assisting in the development and implementation of a marketing strategy to include print media, social media and community engagement. This position is responsible for working closely with AgrAbility Virginia project investigators and service coordinators to develop marketing strategies to enhance AgrAbility messaging and promotional materials, as well as tracking same to determine effectiveness.This part-time position is located within Easterseals UCP. The community outreach specialist, in addition to adapting the website to a new host platform, has bolstered our social media presence by adding regular original news blasts and infographics to our Facebook and Instagram feeds. Further toward this objective, team members attended and tabled for the project at the 2020 Winter Forage Conferences in three locations across the state and the Women in Agriculture Conference in two locations, in addition to the VCE winter conference. Also,Our outreach coordinator has updated our Facebook site with 29 new posts with an average post reach of 186 and a maximum post reach of 1483. We have also created an Instagram account with 13 new posts and a maximum post reach of 116. Lastly, our project and the affiliate Farm Safety, Health, and Wellness Initiative were featured in the Fall 2019 issue of Virginia Tech Magazine.

Publications

• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Mason, G. & K. Niewolny. (2020). Farm Stress and Grief in the Time of COVID-19: Strategies and Resources. ALCE-202, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Mason, G. & K. Niewolny. (2020). Lawn Care Safety for the Whole Family During COVID-19. ALCE-193, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Niewolny, K. & A. Kindell. (2020). Farm Safety, Health, and Wellness Resource: Decision-Making Guide for Farm Service Providers and Educators. ALCE-187, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Coffey, H., H. Adducci, L.A. Samuels, J. Wyker, G. Mason & K. Niewolny. (2020). Farm Safety, Health, and Wellness Resource: Mental Health Case Studies The Dunlaps Beef Cattle: The Impact of Intergenerational Farm Transfer. ALCE-188, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Wyker, J., H. Adducci, H. Coffey, L.A. Samuels, G. Mason & K. Niewolny. (2020). Farm Safety, Health, and Wellness Resource: Mental Health Case Studies The Family Vegetable Farm in Roanoke, Virginia. ALCE-192, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Samuels, L.A., H. Coffey, H. Adducci, J. Wyker, G. Mason & Kim Niewolny. (2020). Farm Safety, Health, and Wellness Resource: Mental Health Case Studies The Montel Family: An Intergenerational Farm. ALCE-191, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Samuels, L.A., H. Adducci, H. Coffey, J. Wyker, G. Mason & Kim Niewolny. Farm Safety, Health, and Wellness Resource: Mental Health Case Studies The Johnsons Broiler Farm. ALCE-190, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: H. Adducci, H. Coffey, L.A. Samuels, J. Wyker, G. Mason, & K. Niewolny. (2020). Farm Safety, Health, and Wellness Resource: Mental Health Case Studies Financial Strain on Dairy Farmers: The Cooper Family Story. ALCE-189, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Niewolny, K. (February, 2020). Helping Agriculture Remain Vital through Engineering Science and Technology (HARVEST). Presentation at the F.A.R.M.S. Conference, Pittsburg State University. Pittsburg, Kansas.